


Ready To See What's Out There

by penstrikesmidnight



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Growing Up, Post-Canon, Sisters, Spoilers for Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:00:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29194212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/penstrikesmidnight/pseuds/penstrikesmidnight
Summary: Catalina lives a life she never thought she would have. She has family and friends to rely on, a home to return to every night, and a day to fill with all the research she wants to do. But maybe, she thinks, there's more for her. And maybe she's ready to see what else is out there to explore. The only concern she has is how Angry would take her leaving.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 6





	Ready To See What's Out There

**Author's Note:**

> Ah, hello! I fell in love with the Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure last year, and was very fortunate to be able to create this piece for the [Tangled Dreams](https://twitter.com/TangledDreamsZn) zine! I hope you enjoy this Catalina-centric piece!

Catalina takes a deep breath as she opens the doors to the castle library. She likes the musty smell of paper and leather more than she ever thought she would.

If anyone had told Catalina five years ago that she would spend most of her days not only in a castle, but in the library of said castle, she would have laughed in their face. Even now, she hardly believes it.

But here she is, digging out her notebook and a pen, thankful that her stack of books from yesterday is still untouched on her favorite table, the one in the back corner next to the window, where the sun can stream in just right throughout the whole day.

This has been her routine for the past few weeks: she wakes up early, does her chores around the house, eats breakfast with a half-awake Lance and mostly-asleep Angry, before wishing them both farewell and darting off to begin her day of research at the castle.

She is one of a very few people who frequent the library. Sometimes, she sees Queen Arianna flitting among the bookshelves, and, once, found Rapunzel dangling precariously on some curtains to reach an art book because the ladder wouldn’t quite reach. But usually, Catalina is alone. She has found she doesn’t mind being alone.

When her stomach starts growling, she will either troop back to Lance’s for lunch or see if anyone at the castle wants to eat with her. More often than not, she finds Eugene skulking around the kitchen. He’s always happy to trade stories about their old ways of life, before he met Rapunzel and Catalina before she and Angry had found their home with Lance.

After lunch, she usually goes back to her reading. Sometimes, Rapunzel will ask for her opinion on a new art piece she completed or, on very rare occasions, asks Catalina about a new decree she is thinking about. Catalina is always surprised to learn how much Rapunzel values her insights.

This day, however, something new happens that completely blindsides Catalina. This day, the Queen visits her.

Okay, Rapunzel is the queen now. Catalina knows that. King Frederic and Queen Arianna stepped down as the ruling monarchs a year or so ago. But still. What else is Catalina supposed to call Arianna if not queen?

It takes Catalina a few seconds to process who it is that just sat down across from her. 

“I hope you don’t mind,” Queen Arianna says with a smile as she opens her book. Catalina snaps her mouth closed when she realizes that it is hanging open. “Sometimes I like a little company while I’m reading. However, please let me know if I’m disturbing you, and I can leave.”

Well. Catalina couldn’t very well tell the queen that she’s disturbing her, so she shrugs before burrowing her nose back into her book.

Her concentration is shattered for the next twenty minutes as she waits with bated breath to see what the queen is going to do. For some reason, Catalina can’t believe that she is just going to sit there and read across from her. It’s too…normal.

But soon enough, Catalina gets lost in her book on shapeshifters of ancient lore, and all thoughts of the queen are slowly forgotten. Catalina has read everything she could find on werewolves (which wasn’t a lot) and slowly moved onto other topics around the subject. She is an expert on the nature of wolves and their natural habitats, on curses that transform their victims into different creatures, and now she is systematically reading through mythologies and fairy tales that have anything to do with shapeshifting or werecreatures.

More often than not, Catalina doesn’t find anything useful, but she does find everything interesting. And if this is what she can find in Corona, she wonders what’s out there in the rest of the world.

Catalina is so absorbed in her latest book, she doesn’t notice that the queen has left until the sun is setting and her stomach starts complaining for dinner. Embarrassed, she half-heartedly looks around to see if Queen Arianna had gone to a different table, but Catalina is the only one in the library. So she tidies her stack of books quickly and takes off to the Snuggly Duckling for dinner.

Angry is chatting with Ulf (or, rather to Ulf, since he doesn’t speak back), when Catalina slides onto her usual stool.

“Oh, look who it is! Our resident bookworm!”

Catalina rolls her eyes but doesn’t say anything. Angry has already teased her so much about this, it’s become a tired joke. “I’m hungry. What’s for dinner?”

“Lance made a new spicy chicken soup he wants us to try, as part of the new Seven Kingdoms menu he’s making. I told him some of the spices looked sketchy, but he insisted that’s how they make it in the kingdom of Koto so…” Angry shrugs her shoulders as Lance walks out of the kitchen.

“How’s my little reader?” Lance asks as he sets down their bowls of food. “What’s one interesting thing you learned today?”

Catalina stirs her soup in its bowl. It is a shade brighter than her hair, which is a little alarming.

“Can I get some milk?” she asks dubiously. “And did you know that there’s a curse that turns someone into a chicken, and they have to successfully cross a road in order to turn back into a human?”

Lance laughs as he slides two glasses of milk to Catalina and Angry. “That sounds like a really bad joke.”

“Well, bottoms up!” Angry says, and she and Catalina take a bite of the spicy chicken soup.

Catalina thinks it’s good, but she can’t really tell from the fact that her mouth and throat are on fire. She gulps down her milk quickly, trying to suppress her coughs.

“Well? How’d I do?” Lance asks with a grin.

“It’s…something,” Catalina says.

“It’ll melt any customer’s face off,” Angry agrees. She turns to Catalina with a wink. “Luckily, I saved some before Lance decided to put five different types of peppers in it.”

Catalina watches as Angry struts into the kitchen. Just as Catalina had fallen in love with books, Angry had grown a fascination with the kitchen. Catalina finds it interesting, what they are learning about themselves now that they do not have to be on the run from the Baron, or homeless and living off of scraps from the nearest village.

Angry returns with two other bowls of soup, these ones a much less violent shade of red than Lance’s. Still, Catalina blows on her spoon until she is sure it’s lukewarm at best, cringing as she puts it into her mouth.

It’s still got a kick to it, but a mild one, and it allows her to taste all the other flavors. She devours the bowl as fast as she can.

“I tweaked this one just a little,” Angry says. Catalina can hear a note of pride in her voice.

“I think they should both be on the menu,” Catalina says, “and if someone can get through a whole bowl of Lance’s, they win a prize.”

“Oh, that’s a great idea! Good job, bookworm!” Lance says as he sits down next to them.

Catalina rolls her eyes, but turns back to her soup. She wonders how this would taste if she were actually eating it in Koto.

* * *

Catalina kind of hoped, after that first day, the queen would just fade out of her life, to the background, where she belonged.

This is not the case.

Queen Arianna doesn’t visit her everyday, but she sits with Catalina at least two times a week. She seems to mostly study atlases and loose-leafed maps, scribbling notes in a journal with her tongue sticking out of her mouth while she’s concentrating. She doesn’t ask Catalina many questions, just says hello and how do you do before diving into her own research.

After a few weeks of this quiet companionship, Catalina’s curiosity finally gets the better of her. “What are you doing?”

Queen Arianna looks up, startled. Catalina’s face turns hot. Her light skin makes it easy for everyone to see her embarrassment painted across her skin. She fumbles for the words to an apology, but before she can say them, Queen Arianna says, “Oh! I’m making a list of places that I want to travel to.”

Arianna turns her journal so it’s facing Catalina. Catalina sits up on her knees, peering down at the book. It’s so organized. The left column has a list of cities, and the right, a lot of different things that either happen in the cities or details about what they are famous for.

“The king and I are planning on taking a year-long trip around the various kingdoms now that Rapunzel has a firm grasp on ruling Corona,” Arianna explains. “I want to make sure that I don’t miss anything I’ve wanted to see. And also, it’s fun to see how others live, you know?”

Catalina’s eyes snag on Bayangor, one of the closer kingdoms. She sees a list of towns and, next to a few, the word library and mythological artifacts.

“I’m reading about werewolves,” Catalina confesses, then holds her breath as she waits for the queen’s judgement.

Arianna hums. “Have you found anything interesting?”

Catalina shrugs. “There are old legends about people turning into wolves and birds, but no one really says if there are a lot of people out there who can still do it.”

Truthfully, being a werewolf hasn’t changed Catalina much at all. Sometimes, she can feel her temper rising faster than before, or if her friends and family are being threatened, she is quick to defend them. But other than a longing to change when there’s a full moon in the sky, there isn’t much difference.

Still. She would like to know if there were other people out there like her.

“You know,” Queen Arianna says, “Bayangor has a very famous library. There are also rumors that they know a little bit about spirits and werecreatures. I think that’s where Frederic and I are going to begin our journey.”

Catalina can’t help widening her eyes in surprise at that revelation. It’s like Arianna had read her mind. Could there be other people like her? How does Arianna know?

“Anyway, I am so sorry, but I need to go. I promised Rapunzel I would meet her for dinner.” Arianna scoops up her journal and books. Catalina watches her as she walks away.

Before she gets too far, she turns back to face Catalina. “You know. If you wanted to accompany me and Frederic for a few weeks, you are more than welcome to. We are leaving in ten days, so this is relatively short notice. But if you are interested, the invitation is open.”

With that second surprise of the day, Queen Arianna flits out of the room.

During her walk to the Snuggly Duckling, all Catalina can think about is Arianna’s offer. A chance to go to a different Kingdom! A chance to see a bigger library! 

And, maybe, a chance to learn more about herself, and see if there are people like her.

Her thoughts are still spinning when Angry sits next to her. “What’s got you all loopy?” she asks when Catalina has to ask Angry to repeat her statement for the fourth time.

“Oh, nothing much,” Catalina says, taking a big bite of the baked potato in front of her. After a few moments of suspicious silence, she finally asks, a little timid, “What do you think, about traveling again?”

Angry snorts. “Why would I ever want to do that? I have food and a house and Lance. I get to sleep in when I want to, and even though I gotta do chores, I don’t have to hide anymore. I thought we’d talked about this.”

“Well, yeah,” Catalina says. “I didn’t mean living on our own again. I just meant, like, visiting new places. That might be fun.”

Angry shrugs. “Agree to disagree, I guess. You should taste what I made for dessert! It’s a pastry topped with powdered sugar…”

Catalina tries to focus on Angry’s words, but Arianna’s invitation is still echoing in her mind, alluring and tempting.

* * *

“You have a sister, don’t you?”

A week has passed since Arianna’s invitation had been extended to Catalina. She hadn’t said anything else about it, and Catalina hadn’t either, but the thought didn’t want to leave Catalina’s mind.

Queen Arianna tilts her head to the side, studying Catalina for a few seconds before comprehension dawns on her face. Catalina bites her lip, willing her fair skin to cooperate with her just this one time. _Do not blush._

“Yes,” Arianna answers. “Willow. She and I used to travel all over the world together. Kind of like you and Kiera, now that I think about it. We were very close.”

“But you aren’t close now?” Catalina asks softly. She doesn’t like the way her voice sounds small.

Arianna smiles. “Well, we are, just in a different way. It took us a long time to figure out how to be separate people. That sounds very odd, especially because we were both strong-willed, independent young women, like you and Kiera. But, you don’t really understand what it means to grow separately, instead of relying on each other, until you realize that you’ve never been by yourself before. There are certain things you take for granted, even when you don’t mean to. 

“And, to be perfectly honest, the reason Willow and I took so long to come back together is not because we grew apart. It’s because we didn’t understand, at the time, that it is okay to become a person different from your sibling, that it is all part of growing up and growing into your own self, even though it’s scary to think about.”

Catalina sits quietly, mulling over Arianna’s words. She and Angry had hardly spent more than a day apart from each other. What would it be like, to go on this trip with Queen Arianna and King Frederic without Angry?

“I think,” Arianna says, resting her hand on Catalina’s, “you should talk with Kiera. Tell her what you want. She may get upset at first, and she may be upset for a while, but it’s much better to be honest with each other. If you always bend to her whims, one day you may resent her, and that would be worse than a little bit of initial disappointment as you go your separate ways for the first time. And remember. Nothing is permanent.’

Arianna pats Catalina’s hand before taking her leave. Catalina sits there, staring at the table, for the rest of the day. By the time she leaves, she thinks she might have worked up the courage to tell Angry that she’s leaving

* * *

She tells Lance first. She knows it’s the easy way out, but she knows she has to get Lance’s permission before she can do anything anyway.

“Of course!” Lance says. “You, off to a brand new kingdom! Oh, how exciting! You’ll have to bring back the recipes for the most famous dishes, okay?”

Catalina giggles. “Yeah, I’ll do that. Uh, can you wait to talk to Angry about it though? I…I haven’t told her yet.”

“Ah,” Lance says knowingly. “Of course, but the sooner you tell her, the better it’ll be. Like ripping tape off of your eyebrows, if you know what I mean.”

Catalina only vaguely knew what he meant but decided not to ask.

She didn’t work up the courage to tell Angry until two days before she was scheduled to leave. It was late at night and guilt was gnawing deep in her stomach. Queen Arianna had shown her a map of all the stops she had planned for them that afternoon in the library, and she’d realized that, soon, she would be experiencing things without Angry for the first time.

“Queen Arianna invited me to go with her to Bayangor,” Catalina whispers into the dark that night, in their room. “To, uh, research werewolves. And other…things.” 

The silence around them is deafening. Catalina thinks about saying something to break it, but she doesn’t know what to say, not until she knows what Angry is feeling.

“But your home is here,” Angry finally says, her voice calm. Not her natural calm, but the calm when she’s trying to keep her temper in check. It’s not a tone of voice Catalina hears directed at her very often, and she doesn’t like it.

“I know my home is here. And I’ll be back, eventually. But I think this would be a very good opportunity for me to, you know, learn more about myself…”

“But you don’t need to,” Angry says, her calm finally shattering, allowing the anger to pour through. “You’re doing just fine here! You could be a scholar in Corona, studying whatever you wanted! Or you could work with Eugene at the castle, or Lance at the Snuggly Duckling. You don’t have to leave.”

“I want to,” Catalina says, and when the words leave her mouth, she knows they are true. “I need to, Kiera. You don’t have to come. In fact, I want you to stay with Lance and continue cooking, because that’s what you like to do. I want to go to Bayangor and see if there are other werecreatures like me. I want to see how people live their lives in a place different from mine.”

Angry isn’t looking at her. She hasn’t looked over at Catalina since she started talking. “Fine,” Angry says, rolling out of her bed. Alarmed, Catalina sits up.

“Angry, where are you going?”

“None of your business. You’re just going to leave anyway.”

With that, Angry slams the door. Catalina bites her lip, considering going after her. But she knows Angry needs time to cool off by herself, and besides, Catalina isn’t changing her mind.

Even after their fight, she knows what she wants to do. She just wishes she had Angry’s blessing before she departed.

* * *

The next morning, Angry is still gone when Catalina joins Lance for breakfast. “She’ll cool down,” Lance assures Catalina as she picks at her food. “Now, I have a whole list of things that you should pack for this trip. You don’t know what to expect, so it’s best to prepare for all options, you know?”

The rest of the day is spent running errands and making sure Catalina has everything she needs. To be honest, she doesn’t think she needs half of the things Lance is insisting she take, but if it makes Lance feel better, she isn’t going to complain. It isn’t like she has to pack it all on her back, like she used to.

Angry still hasn’t shown up by bedtime. Catalina tosses and turns in her bed all night, wondering where Angry had gone, if she was okay, if their relationship was going to survive. She rubs at the gold leaf on her necklace, hoping that it would. That they would reconcile sooner than Arianna and Willow did.

The next morning finds Catalina yawning as she troops next to Lance, who is hauling her suitcases all the way up to the castle. Arianna, Frederic, Rapunzel, and Eugene greet them on the castle steps.

“I am so excited for you!” Rapunzel says, throwing her arms around Catalina’s shoulders. Catalina smiles and returns the hug. “You are going to have so much fun! Mother has planned a lot of very awesome things, and I know you are going to learn a lot! I can’t wait to hear all about it when you get back!”

Catalina smiles shyly at Rapunzel before turning to the king and queen. “I’ll take care of those,” Frederic says, taking the suitcases from Lance. 

Lance puts his now free hands on Catalina’s shoulders. “You’re sure you packed enough clothes? A sweater or five? How about more than one pair of walking shoes?”

Catalina smiles and hugs Lance. “Yes, we checked last night, remember? Besides, I’m not going to be all by myself. I’ve got Arianna and Frederic looking out for me, and I used to live on the streets, don’t forget.”

Lance sniffles. “My little girl, all grown up and going on her own adventures. Don’t forget to take down any notes about the food there.”

Catalina nods with a smile. She gives Lance one last hug. She can’t help but scan the large courtyard to see if, by some chance, Angry has shown up. 

Catalina doesn’t see her. She tries to tamp down on the disappointment welling up in her chest and threatening to spill out of her eyes when there, standing with her arms crossed on the opposite side of the carriage, is Angry. Catalina grins, running over to her.

“You didn’t really think I’d just let you go without saying goodbye, did you?” Angry asks as Catalina jumps into her arms.

“No,” Catalina says. “I’ll miss you, Angry.”

Catalina feels Angry’s arms tighten around her shoulders. “I’ll miss you too, Catalina, but I think this will be a very good thing for you. Don’t forget about me, though.”

“Never!” Catalina promises. “Besides, I’ll be back in a few weeks. I’ll tell you all about it!” Angry smiles and lets Catalina go.

“You look very excited,” Angry finally says. 

Catalina glances back to where King Frederic and Queen Arianna are speaking with the coachman. “Yeah,” Catalina says, “Yeah. I’m ready to see what’s out there for me.”

They stand there awkwardly for a few seconds before Angry clears her throat. “Well, you’d better not keep Their Royal Majesties waiting.”

“Oh yeah.” Catalina runs over to where the king and queen are standing, scrambling into the carriage when gestured in. Catalina knocks her heels together a few times, twisting her fingers around each other as the carriage departs.

“Bye!” she hears Angry yell. She glances out the window and sees Angry running after the carriage, waving cheerfully. She smiles, waving back until Angry disappears from view. She thought she would feel a little sadder than she does, but instead, she is happy that she knows she has a home and a family she can always return to. She can’t wait to share all her adventures with her sister, and hear all the adventures Angry will inevitably have without her.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Comments/kudos are always welcome!


End file.
